Marawi rehab to cost 80 bn pesos
PHILIPPINES’ GOVERNMENT will spend up to 80 billion pesos on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-torn Marawi City, with groundbreaking slated for mid next month.
Task Force Bangon Marawi chair Eduardo Del Rosario told reporters that the rehabilitation of “ground zero,” or the area most affected by the five-month fighting between government forces and Islamic State supporters last year, was estimated to cost 22 billion pesos.
Another 55 billion pesos will be allocated for intervention in surrounding areas, according to Del Rosario.
The total cost of rebuilding Marawi and its outskirts in the next four years could reach 80 billion pesos, Del Rosario said, adding that the final figure would be determined by the first week of June.
The government had already allocated 10 billion pesos under the 2018 national budget, while the Bureau of the Treasury planned to issue so-called “Marawi bonds” to raise funds, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.
“We will be issuing bonds specifically for Marawi, and they will be retail bonds because we think every Filipino will want to share in the rehabilitation of Marawi.
“We will also offer international agencies and countries an opportunity to participate in the financing of the rehabilitation of Marawi,” Dominguez said.